[TheRaizin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrokenDreams

I feel like I'm the only one who enjoyed the ending.

Trust me when I say you're not the only one. I fairly enjoyed it, whole series even. Zero-One enjoyed the highest of highs, but also suffered the lowest of lows.
The ending is not "completely different" but it's still different. This is the only rider show, in recent memory for me, that has the MC and final villain resolve their differences and not kill each other. (Gaim had Kouta kill Kaito to do that.)

Am I weirded out that Izu is just suddenly replaced? Oh yes, it would've been better if Aruto just held onto Izu's Ribbon and key. I think it would be cool if the movie tackles new Izu (and Aruto) dealing with the fact that she's just a replacement. This will tie into the theme that Humagears are also people. New Izu (and Aruto) will cope together over the loss of OG Izu and Aruto will finally move on and let new Izu be her own person. Let's call her Sharun (Shall). I mean, c'mon that pained look on Aruto when New Izu explained his Zero-One joke has to mean something.



Horobi being spared, rebuilt, and forgiven? It was a bit out there and he could've used an episode for Aruto to really feel it in him to forgive Horobi instead of talk no jutsu by Soreo. But it's still in-character for Aruto. Horobi had caused massive casualties on both humanity and humagears alike but he was doing it in the name of the Ark and freedom of humagears. Once he realized what the Ark actually wanted, he turned on it and humanity because he criticizes the hypocrisy of the humans. Saying MJBR is evil when they (Gai) are the ones who built the Ark.


After killing Izu and losing Jin, he starts wavering, afraid of what he's feeling deep inside his heart, he then rejects it and blames it on humanity because "how could I be wrong when humanity did this? Humanity made me lose my son!". I Horobi needed an episode to show him breakdown from the loss of Jin. When Horobi says: "humanity needs to be eradicated so humagears could live free." He doesn't mean it because we see him show little regard for them when he fights Ark-One. No, this is him giving weak reasoning to his hate, his malice.



When Horobi recalls that Aruto had lost family too (four, in fact. Soreo, Korenosuke, Izu, and Wazu.), it's not him stating the obvious, it's him finally admitting and realizing that he, himself, is a massive hyopcrite as wel; That he, too, has a heart. And so, he transforms one last time, mimicking what Aruto did a while ago, to let Zero-One kill him.



But Aruto doesn't. True in the nature of his character, Aruto spares Horobi. Why? Because both of them now have the heart to forgive. Horobi asks:

"Why didn't you kill me?"

Aruto responds with:

"Is there a need too...?"

Because as long as you have acknowledged your own mistakes, as long as you have the strength within your heart to forgive, as long as you recognize your hypocrisy, as long as you take the steps necessary to fix yourself, to suffer, cry, heal, and move on, then you don't have to kill. You can settle your differences and walk away from the duel. If Aruto had killed Horobi, it would have proven one of the Ark's points that the only way to achieve "peace" is to eradicate one or the other. If Aruto killed Horobi, it would have divided humanity and humagears alike even more, because Horobi was basically their representative. (Tho, an episode could be used to give the humagear populace to side with Horobi.)



Horobi, in own his eyes, sees himself as a protector, only with pathetic reasoning behind it to shadow his weak self. But what he really was, was a father to Jin, a protector of his son. Aruto had long since recognized this.

"After all, we're Kamen Riders, aren't we?"

--

I MIGHT be talking out of my ass, but I've been kind of agitated for a while now, seeing people (especially on Twitter), trash on Zero-One because of the ending. Some just outright pretending the show never existed. I'm very passionate when it comes to these. Omori gave us the wrong message. If he said only: "Zero-One will describe how Reiwa will be going forward", I guarantee that expectations will be much lowered. The ending will definitely not satisfy everyone, and I'm fine with that. But I hate it when people outright just call the whole show trash, because of the ending and the job arc.

But that's it. I really hope the movie tackles the decisions the finale did, like new Izu and have Horobi make up for what he did, (excited to maybe see him transform alongside Aruto once more for the movie.) give Naki and Yua more screentime and something to do, and Gai be Gai.

I'm a fan of Zero-One, I love the cast, and I'm probably going to miss them as much as I did the Drive, Build, and ZI-O cast. Whole show for me is a 6.5/10.
7/10 if the movie elaborates on the finale.